For decades, the world treated Greenland as a sentimental footnote in Arctic mythology rather than a linchpin in global security and modern technology. This was strategic negligence with real consequences.
By contrast, President Donald J. Trump saw what Europe could not, or perhaps would not: that Greenland is not a quaint curiosity; in the 21st century, it is an essential security asset and industrial necessity for the West. “Everything comes over Greenland. If the bad guys start shooting, it comes over Greenland,” he said.
From the Arctic flight path of Russian and Chinese intercontinental ballistic missiles to the Arctic shipping lanes increasingly packed with Russian warships, Greenland’s importance has surged.
